Applying project based learning in teaching speaking to the 1st year non english major

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ OÁNH APPLYING PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE 1ST YEAR NONENGLISH MAJOR MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHỆ AN - 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ OÁNH APPLYING PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE 1ST YEAR NONENGLISH MAJOR Major: Theory and methodology in English teaching Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: Ngơ Đình Phương, Assoc Prof.Dr NGHỆ AN - 2016 DECLARATION I certify this thesis entitled “Applying Project-Based learning in teaching speaking to the 1st year nonEnglish major” is my own work Vinh, August 2016 Nguyen Thi Oanh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not have been completed without the help of many people to whom I am indebted First of all, I am greatly indebted to Assoc Prof Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong, my supervisor, for his invaluable guidance, comments, criticisms, corrections and for his kindly constant encouragement during the course of writing this thesis Second, I would like to thank all lecturers at Foreign Languages Department, Vinh University for their valuable teaching and tremendous assistance that have enlightened my study path Third, I am grateful to my colleagues at Van Xuan University of Technology for their constructive suggestions about this research Without their help and cooperation, the research would have been made impossible I also would like to give my special thanks to the students at Van Xuan University of Technology who have actively participated in my study Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family, my classmates at the Master Course Class, my friends, especially my husband, who also encourages and shares the hardship with me These people deserve all the credit I highly appreciate all their support and contribution ii ABSTRACT Speaking is one of the most important skills in study and daily life; there are many studies which have been carried out in this area This study in the first place, deals with the situation of learning speaking in a university The study also aims at finding an effective way to improve speaking skill by complementing projects A quasi experimental was the method chosen to identify whether the use of Project Based Learning had any effects on students’ speaking skill The participants of the study are 87 first-year non- major students of Group A, Group B, Van Xuan University of Technology In the study, all the students in experimental group were taught speaking by projects with relatively high frequency and students in control group did not carry out project but learned with the traditional methods A pre- test and a post- test for speaking ability were administered and the results by the experimental group were compared with those by the control group The result revealed that students in experimental group are fully aware of the importance of Project Based Learning to their speaking improvement The effectiveness of applying this method is clearly shown And the other group made less improvement in their speaking skill which was demonstrated in their smaller increases in their scoring Based on this study, it is suggested that Project-Based Learning is implemented in teaching speaking at university iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ivv LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Grammar Translation Method 2.2 Direct Method 2.3 The audio-lingual method 2.4 Communicative Language Teaching 2.5 Project Based Learning 2.5.1 Definition 2.5.2 Stages 2.5.3 Teacher’s role 10 2.5.4 Students’ role 10 2.5.5 Benefits 10 2.5.6 Difficulties encountered 11 2.6 The nature of speaking 12 2.6.1 Definition of speaking 12 2.6.2 The component of speaking 13 2.6.3 Speaking ability 13 2.6.4 Teaching speaking 14 iv 2.6.5 The importance of teaching speaking skill 14 2.6.6 The goal of teaching speaking skill 14 2.6.7 Assessing speaking 15 2.6.8 Characteristics of a successful speaking 18 2.6.9 Problems with speaking activities and solutions 19 2.6.9.1 Problems 20 2.6.9.2 Solutions 18 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Setting of the study 22 3.2 Participants 21 3.2.1 The control Group 22 3.2.2 The Experimental Group 22 3.3 Data collection instrument 22 3.3.1 Experiment 23 3.3.1.1 Pre-test 24 3.3.1.2 Post-test 24 3.3.2 Interview 23 3.3.3 Questionaire 25 3.3.3.1 Pre-task questionaire 25 3.3.3.2 Post-task questionaire 26 3.4 Data collection 26 3.5 Data analysis 27 3.5.1 Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-tests 27 3.5.2 Qualitative analysis of interview 27 3.5.3 Quantitative analysis of questionnaire 28 3.6 Research procedures 28 3.7 Summary 28 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSIONS 29 4.1 The findings from questionnaire 29 4.1.1 The reality of the current learning speaking English 29 4.1.1.1 Students’ purposes of learning speaking English 29 v 4.1.1.2 Students’ assessment on the importance of speaking 30 4.1.1.3 Students’ opinions towards speaking activities 30 4.1.1.4 Students’ frequency of speaking English in speaking class 31 4.1.1.5 Causes of students’ reluctance to speak in class 32 4.1.2 Students’ attitude toward applying PBL 34 4.1.3 Teacher’s attitude toward applying PBL 39 4.1.3.1 The role of PBL in teaching speaking 39 4.1.3.2 Teachers’ frequency of applying PBL 40 4.1.3.3 Teachers’ feedbacks on PBL to the students’ improvement 41 4.1.3.4 Teachers' opinions about PBL 42 4.1.3.5 Teacher’s difficulties encounter when applying PBL 42 4.2 The findings of the interview 44 4.3 The findings of the tests 45 4.3.1 Pre-test 45 4.3.1.1 The Control Group 46 4.3.1.2 The Experimental Group 46 4.3.1.3 Pre-test similarities 47 4.3.2 Post-test 47 4.3.2.1 The Control Group 48 4.3.2.2 The Experimental Group 48 4.3.2.3 Post-test differences 49 4.3.3 A comparison of pre- and post-test results for each group 50 4.3.3.1 Means 50 4.3.3.2 Distribution of score types 51 4.4 Discussion 53 4.5 Solution for teaching speaking with PBL 56 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 59 5.1 Conclusions 59 5.2 Pedagogical implications 60 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 64 REFFERENCES 66 vi APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B II APPENDIX C IV APPENDIX D V APPENDIX E VII APPENDIX F IIX APPENDIX G IX APPENDIX H XII APPENDIX L XIII APPENDIX M XV vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1: Score Rubric of Speaking Test 17 Table 3.1: The Control Group’s background information 22 Table 3.2: The Experimental Group’s background information 22 Table 4.1: Students’ purposes of learning speaking English 29 Table 4.2: Factors making students reluctant to speak English in class 32 Table 4.3: Students’ opinion of the speaking lessons using PBL 34 Table 4.4: Criteria of students’ speaking skill improved 37 Table 4.5: Students’ changes after taking part in the lessons using PBL .38 Table 4.6: Difficulties of students when carrying out your projects 39 Table 4.7: Teachers’ opinions for the frequency of using PBL 40 Table 4.8: Teachers’ Feedbacks on PBL to the Students’ improvement in speaking skill .41 Table 4.9: Typical Difficulties the Teachers met when applying PBL 43 Table 4.10 Pre-test score analysis for Control Group 46 Table 4.11 Pre-test score analysis for Experimental Group 46 Table 4.12 Post-test score analysis for Control Group 48 Table 4.13 Post-test score analysis for Experimental Group 48 Table 4.14 Means test scores of two Classes 55 viii APPENDIX D: PRE TEST Part 1: (3 minutes) Phase1: Identifying oneself; giving information about oneself; talking about interests Phase 2: Teacher selects one or more questions from the list to ask each student What’s your favorite sport? Why? Tell us about your English teacher? What you enjoy doing in your free time? Tell us about your family Part 2: (3 minutes) Task: Describing people and places; saying where people and things are and what people are doing Examiner: Say to both students Now, I would like each of you to talk on your own about something I am going to give each of you a photograph of people enjoying music Student a here is your photograph Please show it to student B, but I would like you talk about it Student B, you just listen Student A, please tell us what you can see in your photograph VI Picture for student A Now, student B here is your photograph It also shows people enjoying music Please show it to student B and tell us what you can see in the photograph Picture for student B Part 3: (4 minutes) Tasks: Talk about one’s like and dislike; express your opinion Examiner: Say to both students Your photograph showed people enjoying music Now, I would like you to talk together about when you enjoy music and say what you when you are listening to music VII APPENDIX E: POST TEST Part 1: (3 minutes) Phase1: Identifying oneself; giving information about oneself; talking about interests Phase 2: Teacher selects one or more questions from the list to ask each student What’s your favorite sport? Why? Tell us about your English teacher? What you enjoy doing in your free time? Tell us about your family Part 2: (3 minutes) Task: Describing people and places; saying where people and things are and what people are doing Examiner: Say to both students Now, I would like each of you to talk on your own about something I am going to give each of you a photograph of people chatting Student a here is your photograph Please show it to student B, but I would like you talk about it Student B, you just listen Student A, please tell us what you can see in your photograph VIII Picture for student A Now, student B here is your photograph It also shows someone chatting Please show it to student B and tell us what you can see in the photograph Picture for student B IX Part 3: (4 minutes) Tasks: Talk about one’s like and dislike; express your opinion Examiner: Say to both students Your photograph showed people chatting Now, I would like you to talk together about when you enjoy chatting with, and say what you usually chat about X APPENDIX F THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE IN PRE- TEST P Control group P Experiment group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 A16 B16 A17 B17 A18 B18 A19 B19 A20 B20 A21 B21 A22 B22 A23 B23 A24 B24 A25 B25 XI A26 B26 A27 B27 A28 B28 A29 B29 A30 B30 A31 B31 A32 B32 A33 B33 A34 B34 A35 B35 A36 B36 A37 B37 A38 B38 A39 B39 A40 B40 A41 B41 A42 B42 A43 B43 B44 XII APPENDIX G THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE IN POSTTEST P Control group P Experiment group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 A16 B16 A17 B17 A18 B18 A19 B19 A20 B20 A21 B21 A22 B22 A23 B23 A24 B24 XIII A25 B25 A26 B26 A27 B27 A28 B28 A29 B29 A30 B30 A31 B31 A32 B32 A33 B33 A34 B34 A35 B35 A36 B36 A37 B37 A38 B38 A39 B39 A40 B40 A41 B41 A42 B42 A43 B43 B44 XIV APPENDIX H: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN (apply PBL) Name of method: Project Based Learning Description of Students: Students study in building field Name of project: Build a Park: Engineers Design a small park for Vinh City  Project objectives: when the students complete this session, they will be able to:  Create the small park by themselves  Work together as a group to accomplish park creation and completion  Calculate a scale of the park’s playground  Understand and know how to build a park  Improve speaking skill and critical thinking skill Related Areas: Science: Students will need to have an understanding of habitats (plants and animals) within their region They will need to know the effect that human development will have on the environment Technology: Students will use the computer to research and generate presentation of their park Engineering: Students will create a map, to scale of the park they are creating for their region Mathematics: Students will determine the ratios of real-life objects in order to create a scale of their playground Materials and Equipment: Projector, board, handout, poster, computer, text book… Procedure: Step 1: Introduction a Introduce topic XV - Introduce the topic - Lead in students by pictures of the parks: Thu Le park, National Park, Dai Nam park, Dam Sen Park - Ask the students to create the park b Timeline assessment - Allow two week for students to work on their plans - Students can draw the overall picture of the park on large paper to show on the board or wall or they can create the design with AutoCAD to show on the computer - The teacher and the rest of the class give comments and feedback in the next class - Introduce the rubric to let the students know what is expected and important in the lesson - Step 2: Allot the role - Divide the class into groups of five - Give them some suggested questions: - Provide the handout of vocabulary and discussing questions which guide students in group discussion Useful vocabulary - To be located in: to be in a particular place - Establish (v): set up - Rainforest (n): forest in the tropical region - Toxic( adj): inolvingsth poisonous - Get lost (v): unable to find way - Flora(n): all the plants found in a particular country or region - Fauna(n): the animal life of a particular region or country - Box office (n): Discussion question? Where is the park located? XVI Why you choose this place to build the park? How large is the park? How much you need to build the park? How is the campus designed? How does it effect to the living environment? How much you get from one turn? Which services are designed to attract the tourist? How many hours does the park open? Step 3: Performance Put together the pieces of the project (build, write, develop, interview…whatever steps are needed to complete the project) Do the computer work and/or hand on work - Submit final project for first review, edits, and changes - Make changes to project as needed - Present the completed project to class, school group, community or other involved group Step 4: Evaluation - Review Lesson rubric and self assessment - The other group evaluates - Teacher gives constructive feedback XVII APPENDIX L Oral Presentation Rubric: Building Park Teacher Name: Oanh Nguyen Student’s full name: _ Category Scoring Criteria Total Points Organization The type of presentation is appropriate for the topic and audience (15 points) Information is presented in a logical sequence Presentation appropriately cites requisite number of references Content (55 points) Presentation (30 points) Introduction is attention-getting, lays out the problem well, and establishes a framework for the rest of the presentation 10 Students can answer or explain the questions from the audience 10 Presentation contains accurate information 10 Material included is relevant to the overall message/purpose 10 Appropriate amount of material is prepared, and points made reflect well their relative importance 10 There is an obvious conclusion summarizing the presentation Speaker maintains good eye contact with the audience and seldom looks at the note Speaker uses a clear, audible voice Good language skills and pronunciation are used No misgrammar 10 XVIII Score Score Visual aids are well prepared, informative, effective, and not distracting Length of presentation is within the assigned time limits Total Points 100 80-100: high distinction, 70-79: distinction, 60-69: credit, 50-59: pass, less than 50: no pass Adapted from hplengr.engr.wisc.edu/Rubric_Presentation.doc Retrieved on November 15, 2015 XIX APPENDIX M: PORTFOLIO RUBRIC Student Name: Category Contents Organization Teacher Name: Oanh Nguyen Scoring Criteria Portfolio contains all of the required materials (e.g article collection, pictures, postcards, writings, reflections) Total Points Score 45 Portfolio is completely and neatly organized A Reader can easily find things 20 20 Choice of Documentation Samples and materials (e.g., articles, pictures, writings, etc.) clearly reflect student’s attitudes and achievements in EFL learning Punctuality Submit on time 15 Total 80-100: high distinction, 70-79: distinction, 60-69: credit, 50-59: pass, less than 50: no pass Adapted from http://www.umes.edu/education/exhibit/docs/PORTFOLIO%20RUBRIC.doc Retrieved on November 15, November, 2007 XX ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ OÁNH APPLYING PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE 1ST YEAR NONENGLISH MAJOR Major: Theory and methodology in English... out to meet the following aims: To investigate the current English speaking teaching and learning situation at VXUT in order to find out the difficulties in learning and teaching English speaking. .. English speaking To find out the students’ attitudes towards applying PBL to teaching speaking at VXUT To evaluate the effectiveness of the application PBL in teaching speaking at VXUT To give suggestions